Hellyers Road Distillery 12 year old French Oak Cask 46.2%
Tasted: Dec 2014
Nose: Youthful, oily and estery (green banana). Lightly straw marc-like notes mingle with some solid, underlying toffee’d oak. With time the herbal notes emerge along with a touch of barley and citrus.
Palate: Young and estery – banana and pineapple chunks along with chunky toffee’d oak and hints of herbs. Piquant alcohol freshens but the toffee becomes sweeter and more dominant.
Finish: Long and toffee’d with the herbal notes and alcohol just about balancing.
Conclusion: A little chunky perhaps and maybe lacking a little elegance and maturity but it’s a pleasant malt.
Hellyers Road Distillery ‘The Gorge’ 59.4%
Is the first offer of what will become an annual single cask release in the Henry’s Legacy Series. A series of landmark single malt whiskies, each named after significant landmarks either charted or discovered by the distillery’s namesake, Henry Hellyer. Hellyer Gorge is a parcel of pristine forest wilderness that is one of the original pathways to Tasmania’s rugged West Coast Region.
Tasted: Dec 2014
Nose: Young and oily with plenty of winey red fruit (finished?) Quite herbal and intense with hints of marc-like notes and late duty spice.
Palate: Very wine influenced with sugar coated red fruit and plenty of alcohol and tannin. Hints of toffee and straw. Water emphasises it’s youthfulness.
Finish: Very intensely alcoholic and very spicy. It definitely takes your breath away. Lightly juicy and coffee’d after-taste. Water brings forward the creamy oak and emphasises the herbal notes.
Conclusion: Good spirit but could’ve done with more time in cask.
Hellyers Road – Henry’s Legacy Saint Valentines Peak 60.1%
Aged in French Oak (ex-Port)
Tasted: Feb 2016
Nose: Big chunky, coffee’d Oloroso nose which seems to hint at some maturity. Prunes, dark chocolate powder and dark honey emerge. A drop of water opens it up and it’s a lot more silky now.
Palate: Dry, relatively alcoholic but the pruney dried fruit and honey balance. Plenty of dark wood spices. Water opens it up like it does on the nose. Good depth but I’m still not getting much beyond the wood!
Finish: Long with lingering dried fruit.
Conclusion: French oak? Port? Really? It definitely comes across as an oak monster, but one of the sherried persuasion.
Whisky According to Chris Whiskyman 